Not content with just dethroning Maxis as the king of urban city builders, Paradox is also going after The Sims market with its upcoming life simulator Life By You. While the studio has not shown much of the game yet, the brief trailers seem to show a game that has everything The Sims 3 fans could want. It's an open-world life sim with all the classic life sim mechanics, and if it is good, then Life By You has the chance to really take the genre by storm. However, something about its art style seems to be off.
The brief trailers of Life By You seem a little rough around the edges, and it just lacks a certain charm. Maxis' Sims franchise is successful not just because of its gameplay loop but also because of the cartoonish world that the studio has created. When players boot up a Sims game, they know what kind of aesthetic to expect, but Life by You does not seem to have a similar distinct aesthetic. It looks generic, and that may hurt it in the long run.
Life By You is Missing The Sims Charm
The Sims franchise oozes with charisma and charm. The characters are cartoonish, the world is filled with outlandish scenarios, the environments are colorful, and the interactions often result in wild shenanigans. The entire franchise is built around this aesthetic, which is one of the things that unifies games like The Sims, The Sims Medieval, MySims, and SimCity. Players know what kind of world they are going to be exploring, and they know what kind of situations they will encounter. The language of Simlish has become iconic, and the colorful worlds that Maxis has created have enthralled audiences for years.
The brief Life By You trailers do not really seem to replicate this charm, and it makes it look a little unpolished. The characters do not seem to be particularly stylized, the world seems to look dull, and the gameplay looks pretty slow. There also does not seem to be any unique elements like a made up language that give the world more character, and the UI looks generic. While a lot of this could change before release, the current trailers present a game that seems to really lack any sort of distinct personality.
It looks like Life By You is going for a more realistic approach, and its art style seems to take more cues from Cities Skylines. This approach will likely help differentiate it from its main competition, but that also means that the game may lack something. The Sims' charm has helped carry the series ever since the first SimCity hit store shelves, and lacking a specific charm makes Life By You look bland in comparison. It may be able to hit all the right notes and deliver a quality life simulator in terms of gameplay, but the lack of charm could make or break it.
Life By You looks promising, and may finally give The Sims a run for its money. Paradox seems to be focusing more on giving players control to create whatever they want while also delivering what The Sims 4 lacked. It may be exactly what life simulator fans have wanted for years, but its gameplay loop may not be enough to pull players away from The Sims world. If the studio does not inject more color and character into Life By You, then it may just get lost in the crowd. Only time will tell, but the brief reveal trailer has not started it off on strong footing.
Life by You is in development for PC and enters Early Access on September 12.